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Democratic pols ditch Twitter after Elon Musk takeover, report shows

Congressional Democrats’ use of X, formerly Twitter, has significantly dropped off in the years since Elon Musk took over the social media platform, a new report suggests.

Significantly more Republican lawmakers used X in 2024 than their Democratic colleagues, public affairs firm Quorum calculated. Of the top 20 most active accounts for members of Congress, just one – Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla. – hails from the left, at No. 15.

It’s a stark change even from Quorum’s 2023 report, which came out just over a year after Musk bought the site – at the time. The top 10 most active congressional accounts were nearly split evenly with six Republicans and four Democrats on the list. Now, they are all Republicans.

Many on the left have decried Musk’s ownership of X, accusing him of using it to bolster President-elect Donald Trump and right-wing causes. But Musk and his allies have insisted that he is creating a more user-controlled experience that promotes free speech.

The report pointed to a 2023 survey that showed a stark decrease in Americans who identify as Democrats using the app.

‘The use of X is on the decline among the general public after Elon Musk’s takeover — with Democrats driving the exodus, according to one survey conducted early last year,’ the report said.

‘After looking at the data, it’s clear that the decline in usage isn’t just coming from the general public. Public officials, particularly those on the left, are also changing their social media habits.’

Rep. Dwight Evans, D-Pa., for example, was the most active Democratic lawmaker on X in 2023 before his post frequency fell sharply by 66% this year, the report said.

Activity on X accounts for California Reps. Robert Garcia and Ted Lieu, both Democrats, fell by 35% and 26%, respectively.

In 2024, the most frequently active X accounts were those for Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

Republican lawmakers, as a whole, made up 54.4% of X posts by members of Congress in 2024, compared to 45.1% for Democrats.

In 2023, congressional Democrats made up 50.8% of lawmakers’ activity on X, compared to 48.8% being by Republicans, Quorum’s previous report said.

It’s worth noting that it’s standard practice for congressional lawmakers to hand control of either their professional or personal X accounts – frequently both – to their staff. 

But some lawmakers like Cruz and Roy, as well as the third-ranked most active X poster, Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., are known for frequently engaging with other X users directly.

Frost, the lonely Democrat in the top 20 most frequent congressional X users of 2024, warned fellow liberals not to cede the popular app to Republicans, in an interview with Politico last month.

‘If we leave X, it will help Elon with his goal of making the platform void of any progressive ideology or the way we think about the world,’ he said.

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Oklahoma, Brent Venables going all-in on transfer quarterback

He was in the transfer portal for 24 hours, and it didn’t take long to choose a new home and underscore the reality of today’s college football.

That was John Mateer last week in an Instagram post from 1Oklahoma, staring in the camera while the graphic asked, “Sooner Nation, what are you asking Santa for this season?”

The No. 1 player in the transfer portal and former star quarterback at Washington State, Mateer was holding a football in one hand and flashing No. 1 in the other. The ‘No. 1’ signifying 1Oklahoma — the collective arm of Oklahoma sports.

Mateer wasn’t even wearing Sooners apparel for the commitment post.

It wasn’t long ago that coaches were decrying the ‘unsustainable’ world of NIL. Now they’re betting everything on it — even with pay for play expected to arrive in the fall of 2025.

Give Oklahoma coach Brent Venables credit, the Sooners were stuck at quarterback and he wasn’t waiting for it to get better. For freshman Michael Hawkins Jr., to figure it out, or former five-star recruit Jackson Arnold to finally play to his potential. 

A college football industry person close to the situation told USA TODAY Sports that 1Oklahoma offered Mateer, a rising junior, a multi-million dollar deal similar to what Miami paid Cam Ward in January, and Mateer then followed his offensive coordinator at Wazzu (Ben Arbuckle) to Norman. The person asked for anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.

You win in the SEC with an elite quarterback, and disrupters on the defensive line. Oklahoma has the latter figured out; the former was a problem this season from the jump.

QUICK FIX: Making the College Football Playoff better is simple

HIGHS AND LOWS: Winners and losers of the playoff’s first round

But for an upset of Alabama in late November, the Sooners would’ve finished with their worst conference record since 1936. Two measly wins in their first season in the SEC isn’t going to cut it. 

Not with the history and tradition (and administrative support) in Norman. And more important, not if 1Oklahoma had anything to say about it.

Mateer was a rare talent in the portal, a quarterback who can change the fortunes of a program. Much like Ward, he’ll arrive at Oklahoma with simply stated goals.

Last dance, last chance — for Mateer, and more than likely, for Venables. 

Mateer led the nation in total touchdowns (44), throwing for 3,139 yards and 29 touchdowns and rushing for 826 yards and 15 scores. In other words, he’s exactly the dual threat Oklahoma thought it had in Arnold.

It was those expectations for Arnold at the end of 2023 that allowed Oklahoma to move on from Dillon Gabriel, another wildly successful quarterback from the portal. Venables said the Sooners didn’t run off Gabriel, who transferred to Oregon after accounting for 42 touchdowns (and only six interceptions) in his last season in Norman. 

Gabriel responded and said in September that, “God put me right where I need to be.”

At this point, the results tell the story. Gabriel has No. 1 Oregon in the College Football Playoff, and was a Heisman Trophy finalist. Arnold was benched midway through the season and eventually transferred to Auburn earlier this month. 

Hawkins says he is staying in Norman, and Venables also added quarterback Cole Gonzales of Western Carolina. But the 2025 season is all about Mateer. 

When Mateer announced he was leaving Washington State, then-Cougars coach Jake Dickert (he has since accepted the Wake Forest job) said Mateer was offered a “seven-figure” deal to stay in Pullman, and that, “He’s going to be the best player in the country next year.”

Oklahoma still needs pieces around Mateer, and it doesn’t help that it lost five wide receivers (including star Nic Anderson) and tight end Bauer Sharp to the portal. There’s time to fill in the personnel gaps, but there’s little doubt what this signing means to Oklahoma and Venables. 

The Sooners can’t struggle again in 2025, can’t fall further behind bitter rival and SEC expansion brother Texas. The Longhorns are preparing for a quarterfinal game in the CFP. 

Oklahoma is playing Friday in the Armed Forces Bowl against Navy.

“Excited about John (Mateer),” Venables said this week. “He’s experienced. He’s got great arm talent and really good instincts. He’ll make us better.”

Maybe Mateer, who grew up in Little Elm, Texas, inside the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, just wanted to play closer to home. Maybe he wanted to follow Arbuckle, or a conversation with Sooners legend Baker Mayfield convinced him. 

Or maybe Venables made it clear to 1Oklahoma that Mateer was the answer, and the collective took over. 

“It’s a very competitive space, as everyone knows,” Venables said.

And Mateer and Venables are now connected in a very competitive, and unforgiving, conference. 

Last dance, last chance. 

Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Seahawks’ win vs. Bears is lowest-scoring game of 2024 NFL season

If ‘Thursday Night Football’ felt unusually low-scoring, it was. Seattle’s 6-3 victory was the lowest-scoring game of the 2024 NFL season to this point. It was the first time both teams in a game failed to score more than 10 points in an NFL game this season.

The prior record for lowest-scoring game of the season was the Jacksonville Jaguars’ 10-6 win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 14. That game featured one touchdown: an 8-yard touchdown run by Jaguars running back Tank Bigsby.

It’s not the only game without a touchdown this season. ‘Thursday Night Football’ in Week 15 was a 12-6 win by the Los Angeles Rams over the San Francisco 49ers.

The Seahawks scored field goals on their first and last drives of the first half for their only points of the game. Chicago’s field goal with 2:32 to go in the second quarter prevented the shutout.

Neither team scored in the second half.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

The Seahawks were involved in the most recent 6-3 game in NFL history: a 6-3 loss to the Cleveland Browns on Oct. 23, 2011.

Last year’s lowest scoring game was the Minnesota Vikings’ 3-0 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Dec. 10.

All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY’s 4th and Monday newsletter.

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5 NHL teams that could benefit from a trade when roster freeze ends

NHL games and practices resume Friday after a three-day break, and starting at 12:01 a.m. local time on Saturday, the league’s annual holiday roster freeze comes to an end.

That means teams are free to make deals again as they prepare for the March 7 trade deadline.

The team that could benefit the most from a trade is one that has already made two.

The New York Rangers recently traded captain Jacob Trouba and former No. 2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko, but it hasn’t stopped the team’s lengthy slide.

‘We’ve got to show more heart,’ center Vincent Trocheck told reporters after a 5-0 loss to the New Jersey Devils in the final game before the break. ‘We should be embarrassed.’

Here are teams that could benefit from a trade once the NHL opens up for business again:

RED WINGS: Coach Derek Lalonde fired; Todd McLellan is replacement

New York Rangers

Last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winner and Eastern Conference finalists have lost 13 of 17 to drop to seventh place in the Metropolitan Division.

The two trades netted the Rangers a third defense pairing of Will Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen, but their problems extend beyond that.

They are often outshot and rely too much on goalie Igor Shesterkin. Their power play has two goals in the past 10 games and none in the past six. They brought up Matt Rempe to add grit, but he was suspended for eight games for a hit in his first game back. They made Chris Kreider a healthy scratch in their last game but were limited to 12 shots against the Devils.

Could the Rangers consider trading Kreider or another core player in a bid to further shake things up?

Buffalo Sabres

Their 13-game winless streak ended Wednesday, but the eighth-place team has a lot of ground to make up to avoid a 14th consecutive season out of the playoffs. Buffalo had brought back Lindy Ruff, the last coach to take the team to the postseason, and veteran Jason Zucker has helped. But the Sabres seemed to need another top-six winger heading into the season. That still holds true. A right-shot defenseman and another veteran could help the NHL’s youngest team.

New York Islanders

The Sabres ended their losing streak by routing the eighth-place Islanders. New York is last in both power play and penalty kill. They have been hurt by the long absences of Mathew Barzal and Anthony Duclair. Both are back, but Barzal has one point in his four games. Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, who has double figures in goals, are pending unrestricted free agents. General manager Lou Lamoriello has decisions to make.

Nashville Predators

They have been this season’s most disappointing team, sitting 29th in the league and having the worst offense despite adding 40-goal scorers Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos. Those two are starting to produce after slow starts, but the Predators, who created some cap space with earlier trades, could use more depth at center.

Carolina Hurricanes

Goalie Frederik Andersen is out until at least February, has a history of injury/illness and is a pending unrestricted free agent. Pyotr Kochetkov is filling in well, but if there’s any sign that Andersen needs more time before returning, it might help to add another goaltender.

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NFL, NBA share record viewership on Christmas Day

The NBA has long dominated Christmas, just as Thanksgiving has become synonymous with football, but viewers got the best of both worlds on Wednesday with a NFL doubleheader and five NBA games. With so many viewing options to choose from — the more the merrier, right? — it was clear that someone was going to get the cold shoulder.

Here’s what Christmas Day viewership numbers show:

Netflix’s NFL doubleheader ‘most-streamed NFL game’ ever

Netflix’s Christmas Day NFL doubleheader, featuring the Kansas Chiefs’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Baltimore Ravens’ blowout of the Houston Texans, brought in an estimated 65 million viewers across the country, the streaming platform announced in a press release, citing Nielsen.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

The Chiefs-Steelers broadcast attracted an average audience of over 24 million viewers, while the Ravens-Texans broadcast peaked at more than 27 million viewers. (That might be in part due to Beyonce’s halftime performance.) The doubleheader showcased the two ‘most-streamed NFL games in US history,’ Netflix added.

“We’re thrilled with our first Christmas Gameday on Netflix with NFL games being streamed to a global audience,” said Hans Schroeder, NFL executive vice president of media distribution. “Fans in all 50 states and over 200 countries around the world watched some of the league’s brightest stars along with a dazzling performance by Beyoncé in a historic day for the NFL.”

It’s worth noting that both NFL games aired in direct competition with NBA games, with Chiefs-Steelers (1 p.m. ET) and Ravens-Texans (4:30 p.m. ET) airing alongside New York Knicks-San Antonio Spurs (12 p.m. ET), Minnesota Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks (2:30 p.m. ET) and Boston Celtics-Philadelphia 76ers (5 p.m. ET).

NBA has ‘most-watched Christmas’ since 2019

Despite direct competition from the NFL and a number of basketball stars being injured or absent, the NBA averaged 5.2 million viewers for its most-watched Christmas in five years, the league announced on Thursday.

The Lakers’ Christmas Day victory over the Golden State Warriors was the NBA’s crown jewel of the day, attracting an average of 7.7 million viewers who tuned in to watch James and Steph Curry battle it out. Viewership peaked at 8.3 million viewers as Curry singlehandedly led a comeback charge that ultimately fell short. The Lakers-Warriors broadcast marks the league’s most-watched NBA regular season game since 2019.

The NBA slate opened with the New York Knicks’ 117-114 win over the San Antonio Spurs, drawing in 4.9M viewers to become the most watched opening Christmas Day game in 13 years. The Phoenix Sun’s 110-100 win over the Denver Nuggets wrapped up the night with an average of 3.8 million viewers, the largest ever for the late Christmas window.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

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Cowboys star WR CeeDee Lamb to miss the rest of regular season

One of the top wide receivers in the NFL is shutting it down for the rest of the season. The Dallas Cowboys have announced that star wide receiver CeeDee Lamb will be out for the team’s final two games of the year.

The team put out the following statement Thursday about the decision:

‘Additional examinations and scans this week on CeeDee Lamb’s shoulder have determined that his injury has now progressed to a point that he will be listed as ‘Out’ for the remaining two games of the season.

He will undergo a process of treatment and rehabilitation for his shoulder, is not currently expected to require surgery and is projected to make a full recovery.’

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

Lamb had been dealing with an AC joint injury in his shoulder since Dallas’ Week 9 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He did not practice Wednesday before the Cowboys’ Week 17 game against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Lamb had played well through the injury, especially in the last two weeks. The Cowboys’ leading receiver had 314 yards and two touchdowns in the last three games.

The Cowboys were eliminated from the playoffs before their Week 16 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on ‘Sunday Night Football.’ They close out the regular season on the road against the Eagles in Week 17 and at home against the Washington Commanders in Week 18.

CeeDee Lamb stats

Lamb’s been one of the most prolific wide receivers in the NFL this year. Here’s his stats and how they rank league-wide entering Week 17:

Targets: 152 (2nd)
Receptions: 101 (tied for 2nd)
Receiving yards: 1,194 (3rd)
Receiving touchdowns: 6 (tied for 21st)

Tight end Jake Ferguson is next behind Lamb in receptions with 54 and wide receiver Jalen Tolbert is second to Lamb in receiving yards with 482 and tied with six receiving touchdowns.

Cowboys WR depth chart

With Lamb out, here’s how the rest of the depth chart looks for Dallas:

Jalen Tolbert
Brandin Cooks
Ryan Flournoy
Jonathan Mingo
KaVontae Turpin
Jalen Brooks

The team also has wide receivers Jalen Cropper, Seth Williams, and Kelvin Harmon signed to the practice squad.

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Pat Riley: Miami Heat will not be trading Jimmy Butler

The Miami Heat will not be trading Jimmy Butler, according to team president Pat Riley.

Rumors have been swirling for weeks the Heat would be willing to move their star forward to another team, and those talks were elevated when ESPN reported on Wednesday the six-time All-Star wanted to be out of Miami before the Feb. 6 trade deadline. With rumors heating up, Riley opted to give a statement on the team currently unwilling to move Butler.

‘We usually don’t comment on rumors, but all this speculation has become a distraction to the team and is not fair to the players and coaches. Therefore, we will make it clear – We are not trading Jimmy Butler,’ the statement read.

Butler is in the second year of a three-year, $146 million contract but can opt out of the final year of his deal and become a free agent this summer, meaning Miami would be unable to get any return should he decide to leave the franchise in the offseason. Butler is reportedly seeking max yearly salary in a new deal, so if the Heat trade him, they would likely need to move him to a team that is confident it can re-sign him.

One of the league’s best defensive and postseason performers, Butler has been in Miami since 2019 and has led them to the 2020 and 2023 NBA Finals, as well as another Eastern Conference Finals appearance.

This season, Butler is averaging 18.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists in his sixth season with the franchise. Miami is currently 14-13 on the season and sixth in the Eastern Conference.

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China unveils world’s largest amphibious warship

China has launched the first of its new line of amphibious assault ships and its biggest warship yet, strengthening what is already the world’s largest navy.

The Sichuan, a type 076 new-generation amphibious assault ship, was put into the water at a launch and naming ceremony on Friday. 

With a full load displacement of 40,000 tons, the warship ranks among the world’s largest amphibious assault ships, featuring a dual-island superstructure and full-length flight deck, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) said in a statement.

China Bugle, an news outlet associated with the PLAN’s news media center, reported the ship will play a key role in transforming and developing the Chinese navy and enhancing its combat capabilities in the far seas. 

The Sichuan is capable of launching fighter jets and unmanned drones from an electromagnetic catapult. It is designed to carry ground troops in landing craft with air support. 

The ship also features ‘arrester technology’ that Chinese researchers boast will allow fighter jets to land on its deck, similar to an aircraft carrier.

China launched its first amphibious assault ship, a type 075 class warship called the Hainan, in 2019.

The PLANmi has been working on modernizing its forces for more than a decade, with the aim of being able to operate globally rather than being restricted to waters near the Chinese mainland. China first managed to launch fighter jets with the new electromagnetic technology on its homemade aircraft carrier, the Fujian, which launched two years ago.

The Sichuan will now undergo additional tests at sea. 

China has the largest navy in the world and is consistently trying to upgrade its fleet. Recently, researchers found that the country is working on designing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which would allow it to deploy its ships in distant waters without needing a base to refuel.

The U.S. Navy currently has 11 nuclear-powered aircraft carriers deployed in strategic locations globally, including in the Asia-Pacific.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Joe Biden poses with Hunter’s Chinese business associates in newly surfaced photos: ‘Incredibly damning’

President Biden is seen in newly uncovered photos meeting with Hunter Biden’s Chinese business associates in China while he served as vice president, bringing further scrutiny to his claim he ‘never’ discussed business with his son.

The photos, obtained by conservative-leaning America First Legal through litigation against the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), appear to show then-Vice President Biden introducing his son to Chinese President Xi Jinping and then-Vice President Li Yuanchao. Other photos show Joe Biden posing with Hunter’s business associates from BHR Partners, including Jonathan Li and Ming Xue.

‘These images shed light on the connections between then-Vice President Biden, Hunter and his Chinese business associates, and Chinese government officials including President Xi Jinping,’ America First Legal said in a press release this week. ‘Lawyers and representatives for President Biden and President Obama delayed NARA’s release of these photographs, as they did with other records, until after Election Day.’

‘These photos corroborate the House Oversight Committee’s investigative findings that Hunter Biden arranged for his father to meet with Jonathan Li and other BHR executives during the 2013 China trip, where ‘Mr. Li sought— and received — access to Vice President Biden’s political power, including, for example, preferential access to then-U.S. Ambassador to China Max Baucus … a condition of Hunter Biden and his associates participating in the BHR deal,’’ America First Legal wrote.

America First Legal also wrote that, according to the committee’s investigation, ‘the Biden Family benefited from their business dealings with BHR.’

Hunter Biden was asked earlier this year by the House Oversight Committee about his meetings while traveling to Asia with his father.

‘When we returned from an event to the hotel, there was a rope line, and Jonathan Li was in the lobby of the hotel where I was going to meet him for coffee,’ Hunter Biden said at the time. ‘In that line, I introduced my dad to Jonathan Li and a friend of his, and they shook hands and I believe probably took a photograph. And then my father went up to his room, and I went to have coffee with Jonathan Li.’

Hunter Biden added that he didn’t tell his father ‘anything’ about who Li was.

Joe Biden has repeatedly denied any role in his son’s businesses. 

‘I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,’ Joe Biden said on the presidential campaign trail in 2019.

But emails sent to and from Hunter Biden have cast doubt on that, including a 2017 email obtained by Fox News that shows Hunter requesting keys for Joe and Jill Biden, along with his uncle, Jim Biden, for space he planned to share with an ’emissary’ to the chairman of a now-bankrupt Chinese energy company.

In another 2017 email also obtained by Fox News, Biden wrote to the same Chinese energy company’s chairman extending ‘best wishes from the entire Biden family,’ and urging the chairman to ‘quickly’ send a $10 million wire to ‘properly fund and operate’ the Biden joint venture with the company. 

Devon Archer, a former business partner and longtime friend of Hunter Biden, sat for hours before the House Oversight Committee in a closed-door hearing last year and contradicted the president’s claim, saying Hunter put his father on speakerphone while meeting with business partners at least 20 times. 

Archer described how Joe Biden was put on the phone to sell ‘the brand.’

The photos drew strong criticism on social media in light of President Biden’s frequent claims he never discussed business with his son.

‘Astonishing,’ Red State writer Bonchie posted on X.

‘These photos are incredibly damning and speak volumes,’ author and journalist Peter Schweizer posted on X.

‘It is such a disgrace that only through litigation, and only at the conclusion of the Biden administration is its corruption by ties to the Chinese Communist Party fully coming into focus,’ Real Clear Politics editor Benjamin Weingarten posted on X.

‘The Biden Crime Family Christmas card just dropped,’ GOP Rep. Eric Burlison posted on X.

‘China has the Bidens in its back pocket,’ Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton posted on X.

The newly unearthed photos of the Bidens meeting with Hunter’s Chinese business associates renews scrutiny of an email exchange previously reported by Fox News Digital. The 2014 email exchange reveals Hunter Biden once said he would be ‘happy’ to introduce his business associates to a top Chinese Communist Party official to discuss potential investments after that official allegedly sat at Hunter’s table during a 2013 dinner in Beijing to welcome his father, then-Vice President Joe Biden.

Hunter’s 2014 email exchange with James Bulger referred to the same China trip referenced in the America First Legal press release.

Bulger, who goes by ‘Jimmy,’ served as the chairman of Boston-based Thornton Group LLC, a firm that joined forces with Hunter’s now-defunct Rosemont Seneca to launch its joint venture with Chinese investment firm Bohai Capital to create BHR Partners shortly after the Bidens traveled to China. BHR Partners is controlled by Bank of China Limited.

In the 2014 email, Bulger asked Hunter to introduce BHR CEO Jonathan Li and Andy Lu, who was a BHR committee member, to ‘Mr. Tung,’ which refers to C.H. Tung, a former governor of Hong Kong and billionaire who served as vice chairman of the CCP-linked Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, to discuss ‘BHR investment targets’ and ‘fundraising.’ 

The email alleged Hunter sat next to Tung at the December 2013 dinner welcoming Vice President Joe Biden to Beijing. Fox News Digital previously reached out to the White House multiple times requesting the seating chart for the Beijing dinner, specifically Hunter’s table, but it did not respond.

‘It is my understanding that during the trip to Beijing that you made with your father, President Xi hosted a welcome dinner,’ Bulger wrote. ‘[A]t that dinner, you were seated right next to Mr Tung, therefore J and Andy believe it would be very helpful if you could please send a brief email to Mr Tung laying out that you are a partner and Board Member of BHR and that You would be grateful to Mr Tung if he could meet your local partners to discuss the Fund.

‘Please let me know if you can introduce these two to Mr Tung by email it is very important to our BHR intiative [sic] at this moment.’

Hunter responded that he was ‘happy’ to fulfill the request but said he couldn’t recall the names of the gentlemen who sat next to him at the dinner.

It appears that the Beijing ‘welcome dinner’ hosted by President Xi that Bulger was referencing in his initial email occurred during the evening of Dec. 4, 2013, after then-Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao met with Joe Biden earlier in the day to discuss strengthening U.S.-China relations. 

President Biden pardoned his son earlier this month for any crimes potentially committed dating back to 2014. 

‘Today, I signed a pardon for my son Hunter,’ Biden wrote in a statement at the time. ‘From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.

‘There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution,’ the 82-year-old father wrote. ‘In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough.’

Fox News Digital has previously reached out to the White House about why the pardon was so broad but did not receive a response.

‘Even while President Biden has pardoned his son, Hunter, for anything and everything ‘he has committed or may have committed or taken part in’ going all the way back to the year 2014, more evidence comes out each day showing how his family leveraged Joe Biden’s even longer career in public office for private gain,’ America First Legal Counsel Michael Ding said in a statement. 

‘America First Legal will not stop fighting to uncover the full story of the Biden Family’s corruption.’

Fox News Digital reached out to the White House, Hunter Biden’s legal team and the Chinese businessmen in the photos but did not receive a comment.

Fox News Digital’s Jessica Chasmar Brooke Singman, and Tyler Olson contributed to this report

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Iran regime under ‘immense pressure’ amid incoming Trump admin policies, regional losses, economic woes

JERUSALEM—President-elect Donald Trump’s slated revival of his maximum pressure campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran coupled with a chronic gas shortage in the nation could be the one-two punch that topples the world’s worst state-sponsor of terrorism, according to one prominent expert. 

‘This gas shortage inside Iran is highly significant and exposes the regime’s growing vulnerabilities across multiple fronts. From the defeats of Hezbollah and Hamas in their conflicts with Israel, to the losses of the Houthis in Yemen and the collapse of the Syrian regime under Assad, we see a consistent erosion of the regime’s influence,’ Lisa Daftari, an expert on Iran and editor-in-chief of The Foreign Desk, told Fox News Digital.

She continued, ‘Add to this the plummeting Rial and the staggering mismanagement of resources despite the loosening of sanctions and billions handed over through lopsided deals under Biden’s watch—it’s no surprise the regime is under immense pressure.’

‘With President Trump likely to return to a leadership stance that emphasizes maximum pressure, the Iranian people could find themselves in an environment ripe for demanding regime change, Daftari said.

The widespread blackouts and severe gas shortages for households have jolted Iran’s rulers. Acute anxiety about social and political unrest is on the minds of the rulers who control Iran and are quick to impose violence on mass dissent. 

Nationwide protests over fuel prices and the violent repression of women for not properly wearing the compulsory hijab have rocked the Tehran regime in 2019 and 2022. 

In 2019, Fox News Digital reported that Iran’s regime killed at least 106 people who protested against an increase of fuel prices. Three years later, in 2022, the regime’s infamous morality police murdered a young woman, Masha Amini, for not adequately covering her hair. The 2022 protests morphed into widespread calls across the nation for the dissolution of the Islamic Republic.

According to a Tuesday report in the London-based Iran International news organization, the head of Iran’s judiciary sent a directive to prevent unrest because of the power and gas outages.

Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, the head of Iran’s judiciary reportedly said ‘The Attorney General and prosecutors across the country, in direct cooperation with the intelligence, security, and law enforcement agencies, should take all appropriate measures and arrangements to stabilize and strengthen the security of the people and citizens, and, as in the past, and even with greater firmness, take the relevant measures so that the enemy’s conspiracy to create insecurity…is neutralized.’

Despite Iran’s vast natural gas and oil reserves, years of underinvestment, economic mismanagement, corruption and sanctions have left the energy sector ill-prepared for seasonal surges.

The Islamic Republic has also pumped massive funds into its terrorist proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, over the years. Matthew Levitt, a counter-terrorism expert for the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, has said that Iran funnels roughly $700 million to $1 billion a year to Hezbollah and Hamas secures $100 million a year.

The Iranian rial on December 18 fell to its lowest level in history, losing more than 10% of value since Trump won the presidential election in November and signaling new challenges for Tehran as it remains locked in the wars raging across the Middle East.  

Iran’s Central Bank has in the past flooded the market with more hard currencies in an attempt to improve the rate.

The currency plunged as Iran ordered the closure of schools, universities, and government offices on Wednesday due to a worsening energy crisis exacerbated by harsh winter conditions. The crisis follows a summer of blackouts and is now compounded by severe cold, snow and air pollution.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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